I'm actually looking forward to the next edition of the DSM, which is expected to finally -- finally! -- officially recognize nihilestnefaspermeism. After years upon years of forcing the poor people who often don't even understand the extent to which they suffer from this insidious affliction to live unacknowledged, unsupported, alone (so to speak) in the wilderness, it's about damn time. Have faith, my friends, for the help you did not know you needed is on its way. Soon, I promise.

I have something similar to a nail biting habit. I don't know if it's a mild mental disorder, or a sign of something more significant in the ways of psychological pathology, but I know I'd probably be happier ifs soas dma s s...sdas s

When I read this BS, I almost laughed. Nail biting is not a form of OCD; it's a mindless habit and nothing more. I used to bite my nails. I did it for decades. I wanted to stop, so I asked a gay friend, who used to bite his nails (and other things, too!) how he had beaten the habit. He said to simple start getting manicures and I'd stop on either the first or second one. He was correct. It was that simple.

JackieRabbit:When I read this BS, I almost laughed. Nail biting is not a form of OCD; it's a mindless habit and nothing more. I used to bite my nails. I did it for decades. I wanted to stop, so I asked a gay friend, who used to bite his nails (and other things, too!) how he had beaten the habit. He said to simple start getting manicures and I'd stop on either the first or second one. He was correct. It was that simple.

Yeah, that's kind of along my line of thinking. Nail biting is a natural way of trimming your nails down. Nail trimmers do not exist in the wilderness. For farks sake, my cats chew on their claws all day long to keep them short.

I have noticed that people who chew their fingernails all the way off, and people who chew their cuticles and the sides of their fingers, are usually pretty farked up. I don't mean like schizophrenia or something, just that they're messed up in some way.

I still bite my fingernails, just not all the way off. I can tell how stressed out I am by how short my nails are. If they're OK--short but even and not ragged--then things are going OK. If I notice that they're getting that chewed-on look, it's because I'm wigging out about something.

I do all the the neurotic behaviors described in the article. I bite my nails, I pull hair, and I pick at my skin. It's really not healthy. I can't grow a beard because if I do, then I can't help but fuss at it and pull loose hairs and then it gets all thin and ugly. I have pock marks all over my face because I couldn't help but pick at my acne when I was young.

Lifelong nail-biter until about 4 years ago. It was bad--the sensation of just ripping away the nail from the bed at the edges was such a rush. I started stimulant medication (for ADHD) and then began carrying a nail clipper with me everywhere I went. Managed to supplant the habit, now I trim my nails like a good boy even though I don't have insurance for meds.

I bit my nails starting as a toddler. I eventually ended up with OCD - including behaviors like picking at my skin (I am sooooo lucky it didn't leave scars). OCD is related to illnesses like depression, which I also eventually got. My depression is now under control and being treated -- with a med that is indicated for OCD, but not depression, oddly enough (Luvox). I no longer bite my nails, but I still pick my cuticles like crazy despite the OCD med. So in my case, I definitely think it is a bot of both.

/As a pre-teen, I used a crude behavioral therapy to 'cure' myself of the worst OCD behaviors without realizing I was doing something so "sophisticated.'//CSB

halotosis:Yeah, that's kind of along my line of thinking. Nail biting is a natural way of trimming your nails down. Nail trimmers do not exist in the wilderness. For farks sake, my cats chew on their claws all day long to keep them short.

Yeah because normally we'd be doing stuff that wears them down. Same with your cats.

Anyway, nail biting is a symptom just like hand washing is a symptom - only when it gets to crazy "my fingers are bleeding but I can't stop" levels.

JackieRabbit:When I read this BS, I almost laughed. Nail biting is not a form of OCD; it's a mindless habit and nothing more. I used to bite my nails. I did it for decades. I wanted to stop, so I asked a gay friend, who used to bite his nails (and other things, too!) how he had beaten the habit. He said to simple start getting manicures and I'd stop on either the first or second one. He was correct. It was that simple.

Funny...when I studied a decade ago this was covered....it's is not a disorder in and of itself, but can be a symptom of a conversion disorder.

I used to be a nail biter, but now I'm down to only chewing on them when I have a jagged edge and no file or clippers handy. Nail polish is supposed to help people stop, but all it did for me was make my nails taste weird and coated my teeth in paint chips.

The My Little Pony Killer:I used to be a nail biter, but now I'm down to only chewing on them when I have a jagged edge and no file or clippers handy. Nail polish is supposed to help people stop, but all it did for me was make my nails taste weird and coated my teeth in paintcow chips.

I bit my nails until I was 21...then I decided to stop. I did stop, cold turkey, for 5 years. I loved manicuring my nails, and kept them very nice. Then I had my daughter, and my lovely manicured nails scratched her very delicate skin...so I bit them off. And I've kept them bit down ever since, because I have neither the time nor the money to manicure my nails anymore. I also twig my hair. Oh, well. No, I don't want my children to do it, but I don't think it's necessarily a learned behavior. My daughter has been twigging her hair since she had the ability to control her hands enough to twig it. As long as it doesn't interfere with everyday life or cause health problems, I don't see the harm.

Fark has taught me that there no longer are any mental disorders, instead we should accept that people were born this way. Not only should these people have special rights we should also force out children to be like them.

bborchar:I bit my nails until I was 21...then I decided to stop. I did stop, cold turkey, for 5 years. I loved manicuringmasturbating my nails, and kept them very nice. Then I had my daughter, and my lovely manicured nails scratched her very delicate skin...so I bit them off. And I've kept them bit down ever since, because I have neither the time nor the money to manicure my nails anymore. I also twig my hair. Oh, well. No, I don't want my children to do it, but I don't think it's necessarily a learned behavior. My daughter has been twigging her hair since she had the ability to control her hands enough to twig it. As long as it doesn't interfere with everyday life or cause health problems, I don't see the harm.

JackieRabbit:When I read this BS, I almost laughed. Nail biting is not a form of OCD; it's a mindless habit and nothing more. I used to bite my nails. I did it for decades. I wanted to stop, so I asked a gay friend, who used to bite his nails (and other things, too!) how he had beaten the habit. He said to simple start getting manicures and I'd stop on either the first or second one. He was correct. It was that simple.

Yeah...but now you're gay.

/I keed!//good friend of mine is a nailbiter///definately OCD related in her case